You're reworded version of Art 2(4) is how I've always viewed it. That put me in the minority among my multi-national peers at McGill. I know there are many who subscribe to the worldview you mentioned, but it that really a serious threat? Maybe I just haven't been paying attention or I read the wrong stuff. It would seem that state action negates any possibility of this view being cemented. And given China's views on sovereignty, they would actually ally with the US on this issue I think.

Okay, so an "illegal combatant," to use the phrase in vogue, is never engaging a lawful target because his very status prevents him from having a lawful target. Makes sense. But what about so-called freedom fighters? By this I'm referring to the Geneva protocol (the first I think) that redefines combatant to remove the requirement of a uniform. I'm going off memory here, so I could have it a bit off. Let's assume we're fighting Hamas (which would probably fall within this status) or even the Iraq Republican Guard circa 2003. Would Joe be a lawful target to them while he's chillin' in Bean Town?

A secondary consideration to consider: if we say a Talib conducting a mission in Boston has no lawful target due to his status, are we being consistent? Another words, we treat him as a criminal, but not when it comes to engaging him. Shouldn't we treat him as a combatant, able to be engaged militarily, but one that has violated the laws of war and become a war criminal? If a member of a state force commits war crimes, can't he still engage lawful targets later on? Am I making sense here or do I need to restate?